7.28.2010

Almost 5 million California adults say they could use help with a mental or emotional problem, according to a survey released Wednesday by researchers at UCLA. About 1 million of them meet the criteria for "serious psychological distress."

However, only one in three people who perceive a need for mental health services or are in serious distress have seen a professional for treatment, the survey found.

...

The survey showed that lack of health insurance coverage was a major reason why people didn't seek help -- a situation that may be rectified somewhat by state and national mental health parity laws now in effect that require insurers to cover mental health conditions similarly to they way they cover physical conditions. (The final phase of the federal law went into effect on July 1.)

1 comment:

I've got to wonder if it's any worse than other parts of the country. I've met a lot of people who have admitted the use of antidepressants and such, and I figure I know a lot more who simply don't let me know for whatever reason. I of course don't have the right to know that with every acquaintance!

Relevant bit of data; when I lived there, one would see the hints of drug use, but colleagues would note their experience of how much Midwesterners would drink--another "coping" mechanism, really. Long and short of it is that life without Christ stinks, and sometimes even life with Him can be difficult.